Is This Over Done???

[Sirashley]

Okay guys, I've been working with Gimp and Photomatix. I am trying to get the correct PP done on photos without over doing it. It doesn't help that my monitor sucks... So anyway, my question is, is this photo overdone in Post-Production? and what else, if anything, could be done. Of course, being a noob, my F-stop was too low so the bridge and tanker are not as sharp as they could have been, but it does look sharper when the photo is larger. The photo was shot between 2 and 3 p.m so the lighting and shadows were horrible. Well, I was just looking for some advice as I try to work on my PP skills... Thanks..

Original Photo

Post-Production photo

 

[Alpha]

No, in fact it's under-done. I would work on cutting down the background haze a bit more.

 

[Sirashley]

Okay, I knew that, the only problem was that I don't know how...LOL... I wasn't even sure if it could be done... I use GIMP, which is close to Photoshop, so how do you do it? Please remember I am somewhat of a noob here, so the basic steps would rock... That Freakin day was so hazy, I have some other good shots that were ruined by haze so this would really help me...

 

[Overread]

Alpha might have different advice - more specific, but for general haze I have always found a levels edit (auto mode) to work well at removing haze. It also adds an extra ooomph to most photos - its something I do for each photo.
If auto does not work - try using the dippers (if gimp has them) the black one use to select a point on the photo which is meant to be black, and the same for the white - select a point which is to be white